As any business owner knows, managing employees, customers, and offerings can be a lot to juggle. 

Sometimes, things fall through the cracks, steps get overlooked or forgotten, and opportunities can be missed, especially when you're busy dealing with so many important things. Product lifecycle management (PLM) can help create more structure, transparency, and purpose to add some method to all the madness.  

The product lifecycle management tools available today have been evolving for decades since the creation of the concept by American Motor Company.

It began as a tool for centralizing their product data and product designs like CAD files. It has been expanding outward into all areas of business ever since, as companies discovered its uses and benefits in other departments and processes.

The concept of a product lifecycle and a process to manage it have existed in one form or another for nearly a century. Phases like those we know today began taking shape in the late 1950s. However, it wasn't until 1985 that any computer system existed with the goal of keeping data in one place to improve productivity, which eventually evolved into the first PLM.

The internet only had 130 websites on it by 1993. It would be quite a while before most people knew how to use it. So, for at least the first decade, product lifecycle management books were pretty much the only way for people to answer questions like, "What is a PLM?" and "What is the PLM implementation process?"

Due to decades of digital advancement and the continuous growth and development of PLM software engineering, the PLM software tools currently on the market are much more advanced and have many more uses. Especially in the last few years, there have been a lot of impressive advancements. The benefits have made them nearly irresistible.

Thankfully, the internet has since evolved into the massive information repository that we know and love today. This has made it so that many more resources are available on-demand through internet searches or direct downloads. Now, information to guide businesses through their PLM implementation project plans is much easier to find.

That explains what the process of product lifecycle management looks like and how the first PLM system came into existence.

However, what is PLM software used for today? Well, product lifecycle management software is very complex now and capable of doing numerous things, many of which are considered crucial for business success by experts.

Product lifecycle management software, as the name suggests, is a software solution that helps businesses manage the product lifecycle. It stores all your product data in one place, so everyone can access a single source of truth. It aids with every step of the process from ideation, designing and development to engineering, manufacturing, and improvement through iteration. It can even help with pricing, marketing, selling, and retiring products.

Product lifecycle management software helps store and share data to keep everyone on the same page, speed up processes and increase productivity, and makes tracking and finding product information a snap. There are several PLM software companies that have great options available including Oracle PLM, SAP PLM, Arena PLM, and Windchill PLM.

Every company is different, so find the best option for your business. Any of the options on the latest top PLM software list will support most current PLM strategies. If you need a solution that fits your niche or works with a specific tool you use, you can search for information on that specifically (i.e., best software to manage the product life cycle in marketing or best PLM software for SolidWorks).

It can take time to find the perfect solution, so don't rush the process and do your research thoroughly. Once you narrow down your options to a shortlist, looking through a few product lifecycle management software examples can help you get a better idea of which option best fits your needs.

Having a complex software solution means it's capable of doing more and will have more benefits for your business. 

However, it can also mean that it takes more time to learn how to use it properly. The more helpful features and tools you have access to, the more things you need to learn how to set up and use effectively.

With that in mind, you may want to consider investing in a product lifecycle management course to master the PLM basics and beyond. This will ensure that you can get the most out of the software you choose and set it up to effectively provide the most benefits to your business, your teams, and your customers.

The kind of course you should invest in will depend on your level of knowledge, technical abilities, and what you're looking to learn more about. If you aren't very well-versed in the basics of product management, full courses are available to teach you everything you need to know before you get the software to help you do it.

If you need to be able to prove your credentials, there are PLM certification courses available. Those tend to have requirements like passing a test and proving a certain depth of knowledge. If you decide to hire someone to handle your PLM for you, this is something you should definitely look for in a candidate.

There are a variety of PLM online courses covering different skill levels. If you have some knowledge but need to get more advanced, you should be able to find intermediate options. The amount of information covered in PLM courses and tuition fees for them vary widely, so you should be able to find something that fits your needs and budget.

If you're looking to learn more but don't want to take a product life cycle management course, there are other options available.ore benefits for your business. 

There are various sites that have all kinds of product life cycle management PDF documents available to read or download. You may even be able to find helpful webinars that allow you to download their product life cycle management PPT slides to reference later.

These resources cover everything from the basic product lifecycle management framework to the full product management lifecycle model in varying degrees of specificity. It's also good to take advantage of any product life cycle management examples and use cases you can find.